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How Lent Prepares Us for What is Lost
When I was a little girl, my parents would bribe me with a dollar for every poem I memorized. It is disconcerting to see a child recite some of the sexier parts of Romeo and Juliet, but, what can I say, that was my idea of rebellion. My father, the history professor, was big on…
Christmas Is Not Enough
Advent is preparation for the great inversion: God coming to Earth in the form of a human baby; the ruler of the cosmos trapped in a squalling package of helpless flesh. But this Christmas, it’s not enough.
The Harrowing of Hell
And so here we are: this is Holy Week, the final days of Lent. It is a time jam-packed with emotional lows and highs, powerful theology and moving services such as the foot washing of Maundy Thursday, the darkness of Tenebrae, and the vigils of Saturday night. Or maybe you are braving the Good Friday…
Is Asking the Antidote We Need?
As children most of us wrote to Santa Claus to ask for particular Christmas gifts. I’m not sure all of us asked our parents for the Jem doll, a 1980s version of Barbie except that her neck was extra thick to accommodate the double A batteries that made her ears light up. But we all…
Spiritual Lesson Miraculously Gleaned from Whole Foods Brawl
We might not all achieve ram-a-stranger’s-car-into-a-pole stress levels, but holidays have a way of making us feel frantic. Let’s take a minute to realize that we are entering what the church deems Pretty Special Time (PST, sometimes confused with Pacific Standard Time.) CHRISTMAS IS COMING, people. Everyone get ready!
What to Read When You Can’t Talk About God
It’s happened a million and one times. I’m getting my nails done, picking up take-out, or making small talk in the line at the post office. Someone will ask where I work, and I’ll get to tell them about all the brilliant people I know at Duke, the students I love, and the church people…